Reflection
by NightOfAThousandDreams
Summary: He needed someone to look past the pretty. She needed someone to look past the ugly. Somehow, they both clicked JustinXBeth ONESHOT Warning: Justin OOC


**And so, the Justin streak continues! This one is a bit longer, and maybe a little more confusing. I don't know, when you get into something way past midnight, its bound to have it's flaws.**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

**~Hana**

"Look Beth!" a blonde, ditzy girl squealed. "Isn't this dress pretty?" Her blue eyes were shimmering with excitement. "It'll totally go with my new bracelet."

A short, homely girl with glasses weakly smiled. "It's..._great_, Linds. I'll bet you'll look cute in it."

The attractive teenager cocked her head to the side. "What's wrong Beth? I thought you were excited about the party too!"

Beth looked to the side, sighing a bit. "I'm... not going." she finally said. Her head hung low as she took a seat on the recliner next to the pool. She stared silently at her reflection, toying with her crisp, brown hair. She hated what she saw. Two fat, unruly pimples dotted the side of her dry face. Her thin lips were as pale as the concrete she was next to. Her glasses made her face feel, and look, unbelievingly awkward. And of course, she needed to lose a couple of pounds...

"What do you mean you're not going?" Lindsay suddenly blurted out, snapping Beth out of her musings. "I mean, it's like the _best_ party of the year! Well, that's what Crispy said anyways..."

The comment made Beth crack a tiny smile. "You mean _Chris_, Lindsay." she corrected her.

"Oh, riiight!" Lindsay said with a clueless grin. Her face then turned into a frown. "Anyways, why aren't you going? You were so like, excited and stuff about it!"

"I just don't feel like it..." Beth mumbled. Lindsay looked at her for a bit with a worried expression. This wasn't the Beth she knew. The Beth she knew was ever the optimist, always happy and content with what she had. Never had she heard her complain, even though many people would think she would constantly go on about her looks, weight, hair etc. Even the dimwitted Lindsay could tell that something was wrong with her friend.

She plopped down onto a nearby recliner and pouted at Beth. "What's going on?" she asked, propping her head on her palm.

Beth sighed and looked again at her reflection. "Everyone has a date, Lindsay." she said simply.

Lindsay frowned, thought a bit, and then suddenly brightened. "No... Justin doesn't have a date!" she said with a wink.

Beth chuckled. "Thanks for trying to make me feel better." she said with with a sad grin. "But do you need an eyecheck?"

Lindsay, for once, was silent. She couldn't outright _lie_ to her best friend, but then again, she didn't want her to feel bad. It was true; everyone had a date except for Beth and Justin. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Bridgette and Geoff in the jacuzzi, making out like there was no tommorrow. Trent was strumming a song for Gwen, who sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. Eva and Noah were sitting next to each other, not really talking. Lindsay suspected that Eva was forcing him to go with her, though she thought she saw a hint of a smile behind that book he was reading. Cody and Sadie were walking hand in hand, the plump girl giggling when the "Codmeister" slipped on a banana peel and landed on his face. The other half of Sadie, Katie, was with Ezekiel, probably teaching him basic "teenage language". Behind them was LeShawna, who was shaking her head with a grin on her face as Harold showed her his "mad skills". On the other side of the pool, Courtney and Duncan were having one of their fights where she was yelling about who-knows-what, and he was laughing at her the entire time.

Owen was at the snack bar, gobbling away at everything that was edible (and a few nonedibles, might I add). Izzy was playing with a red stick candle thingy that Lindsay, the farthest corner in her mind, finally concluded was dynamite. DJ was next to Heather, coaxing her into petting his bunny, Bunny. Heather snorted and looked away, but Lindsay knew she saw a smile beneath the frown.

Lindsay started at a touch on her shoulder. She looked up and immediately grinned. "Tay-_Tyler!_" Lindsay squealed with delight, planting a firm kiss on his cheek. "Are you excited for the-" She paused, looking at Beth, who was still glaring at her reflection. Her smile went upside down immediately.

The klutzy jock blinked, looked at Beth, then whispered to Lindsay: "What's wrong with her?"

Lindsay sighed. "She's being un-Beth." she stated simply. Tyler gave a knowing nod, even though he didn't really get it at all.

"Okay then, um, I just wanted to know what was your favorite color, that's all, I guess." He looked down in embarrassement. He still felt awkward talking around Lindsay, even though she was his girlfriend. She was just so _beautiful_. He still couldn't believe he had scored like that.

Lindsay gave him a bright smile. "I like blue!" she said proudly. "Daddy says that Mother Nature made the sky blue because of my eyes!" she added with a knowing nod. Tyler chuckled. He was about to say something before he looked down at Beth and sighed.

"I don't think I'm supposed to be here right now..." he said hesitantly. "I'll catch you later." With that he jogged (or attempted to jog before he tripped over several times) over to the hotel-like mansion that the ex-campers were staying at.

Lindsay looked over at the homely girl and thought hard. It was one of those few times that she felt wheels turn in her head, but as hard as it was, Beth was worth it. She looked at Beth and how she was staring intently at herself in the water. She turned to Justin, who was getting a tan, his trademark grin plastered on his face. She thought, and thought, and thought, until she felt her head was going to explode. Finally, she came up with an idea.

"Oh my gosh Beth!" Lindsay squealed, jumping up and down in delight.

Beth looked up, startled. "What is it, Linds?" she asked, shocked by her friend's major change in mood swings. Lindsay bent down next to her and gave her an excited grin. "We're going to give you a makeover!"

"_We?"_

Justin felt the sun bathe his face in its golden rays. He took a deep breath of air before sitting up and looking around. Tonight was the huge party and he didn't have a date. Usually he didn't mind; girls were a hassle anyways. They would just stand there and drool all over for him. He didn't like that. For once, he wanted to go out with someone who wanted him for _him_. He wanted someone smart, creative, and crafty; was that too hard to ask for? Was it too much to ask for a girl who liked him because of her personality and not because of his looks?

Somedays, he wished he was born a normal baby, with normal looks, and with a normal life. He knew about his past all too well. He was an expensive test-tube baby, born from money to make money. His mother never let him get dirty; he always played inside when he was little. He was never allowed to go to the playground, never allowed to get splinters, never allowed to be a boy. Oh no, that would put too much stress on his pretty little body. His mother was now a millionare because of his face and body. It was weird though; he walked into an A&F store and his chest was plastered all over the walls. He could only thank God that his face wasn't shown. He could never get over the embarrassment.

Sure girls wanted him, guys wanted to be like him, some both. But it was all skin deep. He had only gone on one date in his entire life, and it was an epic failure. He couldn't even start a normal conversation without her sighing and blushing a deep red. This same girl later got tired of him and threw him into a sewer. That girl was Izzy.

Aaand that was a hint that he would never go on a date again.

But for some reason, he felt sad that he didn't have an escort. He looked around, watching different couples interact in different ways. But whether it was Duncan and Courtney fighting or Eva threatening Noah, it all came down to the same conclusion: they liked each other for who they were. And Justin was cursed to never have that happen to him.

There was one girl he had an eye on, though. She wasn't exactly pretty; in fact she could be considered ugly. But he looked past that and into her heart. She was so kind, so sweet, so loving to everyone, even if they didn't necessarily deserve it. But her naive heart was so guillible that it was cute. Her smile, which no longer had braces, seemed to brighten up the day like the sun. Beth was the one weakness he had.

But while he knew he could instantly "score" her, he felt like he would never have a deep and meaningful relationship with her. And the thought hurt him. He was cursed. And he felt like he couldn't stop it...could he?

Hmmmm.....

Lindsay suddenly looked up from the mirror. The clock had just struck nine. The party began in ten minutes. She looked over to her left and glanced at LeShawna, who was busy plucking Beth's eyebrows. The large-and-in-charge girl looked up and winked at Lindsay. The ditzy blonde grinned before turning over to gwen, who was styling Beth's hair. Lindsay would have never guessed it, but the Goth was very well trained in the art of hairstyling. It turned out that her mother owned a salon. Gwen glanced at her and smirked, giving her the thumbs up.

DJ walked in with a bottle in his hands. He knelt down by Beth and grinned. "My Momma gave this to me. She said it made your skin smooth." He blushed a little in embarrassement, but kept going. "Here you go."

Beth, still stunned by the people buzzing around her, simply nodded.

DJ smiled at Lindsay and then walked away, presumabely to explain to Heather where he was.

LeShawna squinted her eyes before giving a satisfied sigh. "Girl, you look _fine!"_ she said triumphantly. Lindsay clasped the lid back onto her make-up and grinned. "Aww, you look so pretty!" she squealed.

Beth, whose eyes were shut due to LeShawna's plucking, slowly opened her eyes. "Oh...oh my gosh!" she said with a gasp. She quietly got up and touched her reflection. Was that really her? Her finger trailed the glass quietly, in awe of what she saw.

Her hair, usually up in a messy pony tail, was now flowing in curls around her shoulder. Her glasses were gone, as Bridgette had the same prescription contacts as she had. Her brown eyes were now given an almond shape. Her thick eyebrows were replaced by slender ones, giving her face more definition. Lindsay had applied make-up on her (it was Beth's first time wearing it) and it made her look and feel like a different person. Her lips didn't look thin anymore, and were a healthy pink. The two annoying pimples on the side of her face mysteriously disappeared. And the beautiful black dress that Lindsay had given her made her feel slender, even if she needed to lose a couple of pounds.

Overall, she felt beautiful.

"Thanks guys," Beth said shyly, curling a strand of hair around her finger "You didn't need to do this."

LeShawna planted a hand firmly on her shoulder. "Hey, sistas stick together," she said with a wink. "And we're sistas."

Gwen hugged Beth. "You look so pretty. Just like how you are inside." she smiled, patting Beth's head.

Bridgette gave her an aqua blue corsage. "Here, I hope you like it," she said with a smile. "It'll look cute with your outfit."

Lindsay grabbed her hand and walked outside. "Come on Beth!" she squealed. "We need to steal some hearts!"

"It's the final dance of the night!" Chris announced into the microphone. "Those of you losers who haven't danced _once_" he paused, glaring at Eva and Noah "get up and groove. It'll be good for ratings."

Beth and the others rolled their eyes as the song began to play. It was a slow song. How cliche`.

But it was the night of her life; she had more boys ask her to dance than all of the school proms combined. She felt pretty and beautiful. She frowned looking around, searching for the one person that hadn't danced with her. _Where was he?_

Justin was on the other side of the dance floor, ignoring the girls squealing for his attention. He had seen her. And she was the most beautiful girl in the room. But he couldn't go up to her and ask her to dance. He wanted to, but he couldn't. His heart did flip-flops everytime he saw her. It was annoying. But he couldn't muster up the strength to go up and talk to her. It was too difficult for him. He was afraid, afraid that she would reject him, or even worse, fall into the trance that every girl seemingly fell in every time they saw him.

He couldn't.

He walked outside into the fresh air. The balcony seemed to be the only place he could be himself. He relaxed and slumped over the railing, looking over the beautiful Playa de Losers. Only two days ago, they all had been at that horrid island, barely surviving sadistic challenges for Chris' own amusement. But now, now that it was all over for all of them, he kind of missed it. At least over there, he had an excuse to be near Beth. But here... not so much.

"Hey."

Justin shot up from his position on the balcony and swirled around. He felt his cheeks tint red as Beth approached him.

"Why are you all alone?" she asked quietly. Justin swore he heard some sadness in her voice.

He flashed her his smile. "Just needed some air."

"You can't fool me."

Justin blinked, a blank look covering his face. "Uh, excuse me?" he asked, his mind trying to register what she had just said.

"I said, you can't fool me." she repeated simply, sitting down on a stone bench. "I can read you. You can drop the sexy act."

Justin, a bit startled, sank down next to her. "And just what makes you think I'm uh, trying to fool you?" he asked, wondering how she saw right through him.

Beth chuckled. "When you do a little bit of it yourself, you can tell." she said, her voice a bit shy.

Justin looked at her. "What do you mean?" he asked quietly.

She looked up at the sky and sighed. "It gets tiring, you know... trying to ignore your looks, trying to please everyone, doing what ever someone tells you to do, just to be nice. I hate it. And I bet you do to."

Justin's voice caught in his throat. He felt tears well up in his eyes. _No crying Justin, not in front of her._

Beth sighed and took his hands into hers. "I've been thinking. So many people put up faces. But here at this camp, no one was afraid to be themselves. Except for _you_."

He bit his lip and looked away. "You don't understand..." he muttered.

Beth looked at him. "No, I don't. But I can try."

Justin slowly turned back to face her, his hands slowly trailing down her face. "...You look beautiful tonight." he whispered.

Beth gave a small giggle. "So do you." she said with a smile. "Though I think that's a little obvious."

The leaned their foreheads together before the model whispered: Thank you.

The kiss was sweet, innocent. Neither of them had kissed someone before. Passion wasn't really what was needed. They both needed someone, someone who would accept them for who they were. The pretty boy needed someone who looked through the pretty; the optimistic farmgirl needed someone to accept her faults. And so, with that one kiss, a new beginning started.

For both of them.

...and it brought some raitings for Chris, who was filming the whole thing behind a plant.

FIN


End file.
